


I never thought I'd meet a guy like you

by blackcatbone



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Character Death, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Japanese Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mystery, Other, POV Lance (Voltron), POV Matt (Voltron), Science Fiction, aromantic sexual relationship, broganes (voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 09:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12318465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackcatbone/pseuds/blackcatbone
Summary: Following the death of his boyfriend Sven, Lance discovers a mysterious list amongst some papers he left behind. When he tries to track down the people on the list, he uncovers some surprising secrets.OrHow many Shiros does it take to change a light bulb? - an essay by Matt Holt





	1. The kind of eyes that hypnotise me through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that this is a work of fiction and any resemblance to real life or actual reality is purely coincidental.
> 
> 1) No warnings for this chapter, except for the character death referenced in the summary (which occurs off-screen) and associated grieving.  
> 2) Obligatory Note About Ages - Lance is 22 years old here, making Sven 30 years old when he died.  
> 3) Huge thanks to [Rhi](http://thebonepilot.tumblr.com/) for beta reading and helping me wrangle my words and thoughts into a smoothly flowing narrative.  
> 4) If you like the story, please comment and let me know your thoughts. Seriously, don't leave me hanging.

Lance sighs and pulls out his phone to check the time again. It's only two minutes later than when he last checked. He gazes down at the screen sadly. He really should change his phone background now, but he just can't bring himself to do it. He's not ready yet.

From the photo on the screen, Sven smiles at him, grey eyes shining. Lance remembers when he took the picture and the conversation that followed. Sven had complimented him on the photo, said he was talented. Lance had denied it, insisted that it was nothing, anyone could've taken it. He bites his lip.

"So sorry to keep you waiting!" comes a voice from behind him and he quickly slips his phone back into his jacket pocket. The woman takes a seat behind the dark wooden desk in front of him, setting down a folder on the tabletop. "My sympathies for your loss."

"Thanks," Lance responds mechanically.

"Don't worry, this won't take long." She offers him a gentle smile. "I just need to see some ID and get you to sign a couple of things."

Lance reaches into his bag to fish out his wallet and passport, while the woman opens up the folder and pulls out the relevant papers, along with a stuffed A4 envelope. 

"Mr Holgersson was very thorough in the arrangements that he made, so everything's been quite smooth from a legal standpoint. Ah, thank you-" She accepts the passport and driver's licence Lance has placed on the table, holding each of them up to check the photos match his face. "That's great. If you could have a read through this for me and then just sign to say you understand."

Lance tries not to skim too fast through the document. It's mostly just common sense stuff and he's honestly not all that surprised by the items listed. Sven left him the apartment, the cat, some money. He signs.

"Thank you. Also, these two-" She slides some more papers towards him. He knows he should read them more closely, but he just doesn't have the energy. Inside, he can feel the first few flakes of an avalanche sliding down. He quickly signs both documents.

"Thank you," the woman repeats, placing the papers neatly back in the folder and closing it. She slides the envelope across to Lance.

"There's copies of all the paperwork in there, plus everything you'll need for the bank. You just show them the forms and they'll take care of everything for you." She pauses for a moment, gently searching his face, then, "Do you have any questions?"

He shakes his head and takes the envelope. Finally, it's over.

He makes his way back out to the car, unlocking it as he approaches. He slowly opens the door and slides into the driver's seat. For a moment he just stares straight ahead, letting his eyes unfocus. He takes a few breaths to steady himself; he's decided that the tears can wait until he gets back to the apartment.

Maybe he should just get the bank stuff over with right now, get it all done in one go. He picks up the envelope from the passenger seat, opening it and pulling out the papers. He shuffles through a few forms, his gaze only lingering briefly on Sven's signature, until he comes to a page that makes him pause.

On it is a list of three names and addresses, written in Sven's handwriting on what looks like corporate headed paper. Lance reads through them a couple of times, but they don't mean anything to him. He doesn't recognise the company name on the header either - The Quintes Group - but the logo looks kind of familiar: two overlapping circles, one white and one black, with the shared portion coloured light grey.

He turns the paper over but there's nothing on the back. Maybe it just got dropped in with the other documents by mistake? He pulls out his phone, opens the Facebook app, and searches for the first name on the list - Takashi Shirogane. Of course, he thinks, there could be lots of people with that name, and he has no way of knowing which one it is-

Wait, scratch that. He knows exactly which one it is.

"No way..." Lance breathes as he clicks on the picture to open up the full profile. There, smiling back at him from the profile picture and several recent photos, is _Sven_. His hair's different, shorter with an undercut, but the face, the smile, the eyes are exactly the same.

-

When he gets back to the apartment, Lance goes straight through to the living room. He scoops his laptop up off the floor and plops himself down on the couch. A quick google of the other two names on the list doesn't bring up anything much. Apparently these guys don't do social media.

The addresses prove a little more interesting. Two appear to be apartments, though apartments in very different looking buildings in very different looking neighbourhoods. The other 'address' is more of a general location, with no buildings nearby, just a dirt road leading off the highway into some woodland. Digging through the general search results turns up a few references to a survivalist compound somewhere out in the woods. Maybe that's what the list is referring to? It might explain the vagueness of that address compared to the others.

Lance leans back, letting his head tilt over the top of the couch so he can gaze up at the ceiling. He has no idea what any of this stuff means, but it can't be a coincidence that Takashi Shirogane looks like he could be Sven's long lost twin brother. Was the paper left for Lance deliberately? Did Sven want him to find this list? Did he know something about the people and places on it, or had he just written them down to investigate later?

_So many questions..._

A plaintive meow draws his attention down to the floor.

"Hey Blue..."

The cat jumps up on the couch next to him and nuzzles along the edge of the laptop. Lance rubs a hand over her back and up her tail. He glances down at the list again and his gaze lights on the header logo. He quickly googles The Quintes Group. There's a website, with a bunch of stuff about investing in the future and funding medical research, but it's all kind of vague. There are no contact details anywhere on the site.

Lance knows he's seen the logo somewhere before, but he can't remember where. Maybe Sven did some work for them or something? That would explain how he got the paper. Or maybe The Quintes Group has nothing to do with the names and addresses. It could've just been the first bit of paper that came to hand.

"It's a mystery..." Lance sighs to himself. Carefully he sets the laptop aside, hauls himself up, and heads for the bedroom. Blue follows, meowing inquiringly as he pulls down a suitcase from on top of the wardrobe and places it on the bed. He reaches down to quickly rub behind the cat's ears and then he starts packing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Story and chapter titles are from 'I Ran' by A Flock Of Seagulls.  
> 2) The Quintes Group is meant to be a play on the word quintessence. It's not a reference to anything else.  
> 3) Since Sven was the pilot of the Blue Lion in 80’s Voltron, I thought it would be appropriate that he left his cat ‘Blue’ to Lance.


	2. A beam of light comes shining down on you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) No warnings for this chapter.

Lance presses the doorbell and waits. From inside the apartment he hears a dog start barking excitedly and a voice shushing it. There's a shuffle of footsteps, followed by a brief pause, before the door finally opens.

"Hello?"

The guy standing in the doorway is not Takashi. He's tall and broad, with skin a few shades darker than Lance's and dark bangs framing his face. A black and tan spitz dog peers around the side of his leg, tongue lolling and fluffy tail wagging enthusiastically.

"Hey," Lance says, fixing the friendliest smile he can muster on his face. "I'm, uh, looking for Takashi Shirogane...?"

"Oh." The guy's eyes widen in recognition. "Sorry, he's not here right now."

"No problem. Do you know when he's gonna be back? I can come back."

The man immediately looks apologetic. "His flight doesn't get in until late tonight, so he probably won't be home until after midnight..."

Lance chews on his bottom lip. He could just come back tomorrow, but the thought of waiting around for the rest of the day is less than appealing, especially when he's so close to maybe getting some answers.

"Are you his roommate?" he ventures.

The guy smiles. "Uh, yeah. He's my husband."

"Oh, right." Lance ducks his head in embarrassment. Apparently he was so busy gaping at Takashi's profile picture that he completely missed his relationship status.

"I'm Hunk, by the way."

"Hunk? Well, they got that right," Lance says before he can stop himself. There's just an openness about this guy that makes him instinctively want to respond in kind. "I'm sorry, man. I flirt when I'm nervous. And when I'm not." He laughs uneasily. Sven was never bothered by him flirting with other people, knew it was just part of who he was. But since losing him, Lance hasn't exactly been his usual self. "I'm Lance."

He offers his hand and Hunk shakes it. His grip is strong, sure, and his smile doesn't waver.

"Is there anything I could help you with?" he asks.

Lance takes a deep breath. "OK, this is gonna sound kinda weird, but I swear all I'm looking for is answers. My boyfriend, Sven, died recently-"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hunk says, sounding like he genuinely means it.

"Thanks." Lance smiles weakly. "I was sorting through some of his things and I came across Takashi's name and this address." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the paper, holding it out so that Hunk can see. "I looked him up online and I found something... weird."

Hunk frowns. "Weird how?"

"It's probably easier just to show you..." Lance pulls out his phone and clicks the button to activate the screen, holding it up for Hunk to see. "This is Sven."

Hunk blinks rapidly. His mouth works but no words come out. He stares at the phone, then looks up at Lance, then back at the screen, then back at Lance.

"I... I think you should come in."

-

Hunk has apparently been baking all morning - to help distract him from the worrying, he says - and has an impressive collection of treats to offer Lance while they look through some photos together. Having skimped on breakfast earlier, he's grateful for the top-up.

"This is incredible," Hunk says as he flicks through the photos on Lance's phone. "He's certainly never mentioned anything about a brother, but then he probably wouldn't know even if he had one. He said he doesn't remember any of his biological family and he's always been honest with me about stuff like that, so..." He trails off, still focused on the pictures.

"I just wish we could've found out sooner," Lance responds, gazing wistfully at the photo gallery on Hunk's laptop. It feels kind of feeble to be reuniting Sven's family after his death.

"Yeah, it's a shame," Hunk agrees. "But I'm sure Shiro will still want to meet you."

"Shiro?"

"Oh, sorry, I should've mentioned earlier: Shiro's what a lot of people call Takashi. Some of the kids struggle a bit with his name."

"I gotta say, I'm really impressed," Lance says, brightening. "I don't think I'd have the patience to look after that many kids all day long! I mean, I love my younger cousins, but they still drive me crazy if I have to spend too much time with them."

Hunk chuckles. "Yeah, well, Shiro's always been blessed with a near-endless supply of patience. He's got a really long fuse." He looks away for a moment, thoughtful. "But when it does go off, I gotta tell you, it's pretty scary."

In a lot of ways Shiro is turning out to be quite similar to Sven, but there are plenty of differences too. Hunk said Shiro grew up dreaming of becoming a pilot, but a congenital amputation meant he was born missing the lower portion of his right arm, so he started down a different career path and, happily, has never thought about looking back. He's been working at a local school for kids with learning disabilities for nearly six years now and is currently away on a school trip.

Lance feels almost embarrassed at how little he knows about what Sven did for a living, but it just never seemed important at the time. Sven always treated it like it was just a means to an end and Lance went along with it. It makes him wonder, had Sven lived longer and they'd had a chance to get married, would they have been able to make it work? He used to think he knew the answer to that question, but now he's not so sure.

As he takes another brownie from the plate in front of him and starts chewing on a bite thoughtfully, he becomes aware of a set of eyes watching him intently.

"Sorry, pup, I don't think this'd be very good for you..."

"Oh, Bee. Leave him alone," Hunk scolds. Then to Lance: "Just don't look at her and eventually she'll get the message. She can be incredibly stubborn sometimes. I swear she gets it from her dad." He narrows his eyes at the dog, but she seems oblivious.

Lance smiles. That's another thing Shiro and Sven have in common: they're both dads to four-legged kids. Or 'was' in Sven's case... Lance sighs tiredly.

"Hey, do you know of anywhere good near here that I could stay for the night? I'm guessing Shiro will be too tired to talk when he gets back."

"Oh, you can stay here!" Hunk responds immediately.

"Nah, I don't want to impose-"

"No, I insist," Hunk says firmly. "There's no point you wasting your money on a motel when we've got a perfectly good guest room here."

"Thanks, man," Lance surrenders. "That's really kind of you."

Hunk smiles broadly and Bumblebee wags her tail in agreement. Whatever happens after this, Lance is glad he had the chance to meet these two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Hunk and Shiro's dog is called Bumblebee because she's black and yellow, to represent the Black and Yellow Lions. I was imagining her as either a shiba inu or a shiba mix.


	3. Aurora Borealis comes in view

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Warnings for references to injury and off-screen trauma, including amputation.

As he crosses the street, in the second new town in as many days, to check out one of the local B&B's, Lance is still sifting through his emotions. Seeing Shiro walk into the kitchen this morning, still sleepy and sporting a fantastic bedhead, was a lot harder to deal with than Lance had anticipated. Shiro was very understanding about it, but actually seeing Sven's 'twin' in the flesh left Lance with a volatile mixture of excitement and anxiety brewing in his stomach.

He's not sure what to expect from the next name on the list, Kieron Kogane. Will he also turn out to be the spitting image of Sven? Or maybe another long-lost relative? Will meeting him just end up leaving Lance with more questions than answers? At least he's not alone now; he has Hunk with him this time. Shiro regretted that he couldn't go with them, since he had things to take care of at home, but both he and Hunk are keen to unravel this mystery.

This town seems to be the last stop in civilisation before you come to the woods where the survivalist compound is supposedly located. When he and Hunk asked around in a few of the stores, Lance did manage to find a few people who could corroborate the existence of the compound and confirm that it was apparently still there, but no-one knew the exact location. So it looks like tomorrow they're just going to have to start searching through the woods until they find it.

For now though, Lance is going to make sure they have a room for the night. Meanwhile, Hunk has gone in search of somewhere to get some dinner. Having sampled some of his culinary works, Lance is confident in his ability to discern the best spot to eat. Assuming there _is_ anywhere good in this tiny town.

Pushing through the front door of the B&B, Lance sees a guy standing at the front desk, talking to the female receptionist. As he draws closer, he catches the tail-end of their conversation.

"Kogane, with a K... K-O-G-A-N-E. Yeah," the guy says, the woman quickly typing this into the computer in front of her.

"And how many nights will you be staying?"

"Uh... I don't know." The man frowns, thinking. "Can I book for a week and then extend it later?"

"Of course." The woman smiles brightly. "Now, are you paying with cash or card?"

"Cash," the guy says quickly, then his eyes widen a little as something occurs to him. "Actually, make that card."

He reaches into one of the pockets in his worn leather jacket and pulls out a credit card; no wallet, just the card. He places it on the counter, eyeing it warily, as though he doesn't quite trust it. The woman doesn't seem to notice. Once the payment is processed, she hands back the card along with a room key and says, "Enjoy your stay!"

As the guy turns to go, Lance steps in front of him.

"Hey, sorry, I couldn't help overhearing. Are you... are you Kieron Kogane?"

The guy stiffens, immediately on guard. "Why?"

"I'm looking for him. Do you-"

"I got that," the guy cuts him off impatiently. "Why are you looking for him?"

"I just want to talk to him about somethi-"

"You can't," the guy responds before Lance can finish, his expression abruptly shifting from defensive to hurt.

-

Lance can't help but feel a prickle of deja vu as he gazes down at the man in the hospital bed. There are dark bruises round his eye sockets and a jagged cut stretching across the bridge of his nose, but Lance would still recognise that face anywhere.

This time the hair is long, with a broad streak of white running through it. Lance guesses that must run in the family. Sven admitted to dying his hair since he was a teenager; he thought the white hair made him look old. Lance was reminded of it when he noticed a box of black hair dye in Hunk and Shiro's bathroom, and he thinks that he might've seen a little bit of white peeking through in some of Shiro's photos.

"It's my fault," says the guy standing next to Lance, whose name he now knows is Keith. Kieron is his older brother. "If I hadn't swerved to avoid it-"

"You just reacted," Lance assures him. "Anyone else could've done the same. In a situation like that you just don't have time to think."

Keith just stares straight ahead, his dark eyes full of guilt. He told Lance that he and his brother grew up in the compound with their parents, only coming into town when supplies ran low. Both parents have been dead for a few years now, though, and Kieron is the only family Keith has left.

He didn't recognise any of the other names or addresses on the list, but he did know something about the Quintes Group. He said they showed up after the accident and offered to provide medical care for Kieron. With his brother clearly in bad shape, and not having much money or any form of medical insurance, Keith had little choice but to accept their help.

They brought Kieron here to this private clinic and gave Keith a credit card to cover the cost of a room and expenses so he could stay in town. They're keeping Kieron under sedation for the time being, but they say they expect him to make a full recovery, with one notable exception. His right arm was badly torn up in the crash and they've had to amputate it above the elbow. 

"So these Quintes guys just offered to pay for all this free of charge?" Lance asks, lowering his voice and glancing around quickly to make sure no-one's listening in.

"No." Keith frowns at him. "In return they wanted me to take part in this drug trial that they're doing."

"What?!" Lance exclaims. "And you just agreed to that? You didn't think it was weird that they showed up right after the accident, saying they'd take care of everything if you agreed to be their guinea pig?"

"Of course I thought it was weird!" Keith snaps back. "But what was I supposed to do?!"

Lance turns away from the heat of his gaze. He hates to admit it, but in Keith's position, if it had been his own brother or sister, he's sure that he would've done the same.

"They got me to sign a contract," Keith continues, "to prove that I understood what was involved. And so I can't sue them later, I guess."

"Can I see it?" Lance asks.

Keith takes off his backpack and opens it up to pull out some papers, which he hands to Lance. There at the top of the page is the same logo with the two overlapping circles. Lance starts skim-reading the document.

"It's not been too bad so far," Keith says. "All they did was take a bunch of samples, like blood and stuff, and give me a shot. That's it."

"What did the shot do?" Lance asks as he moves onto page two of the contract.

"Nothing." Keith shrugs. "My arm itched a little bit the next day, but apart from that it didn't seem to do anything."

Lance is definitely glad that Keith's OK, but he doesn't exactly feel reassured by the information. This whole thing stinks of wrongness. If it were just the mysterious doppelgängers that would be one thing, but the fact that The Quintes Group keeps popping up everywhere is highly suspicious.

Shiro had recognised the name right away. He said the group had made several donations to the school where he works. He hadn't dealt with them directly himself, but he had met some of their representatives briefly at various charity functions. Keith had never heard of them before today, but the facility they're in now looks kind of high-tech for a small town on the edge of nowhere. When he gets home, Lance is going to need to take a look at Sven's bank records. If he has done some work for the group in the past, it should show up on his account somewhere.

Whatever the hell this is, Lance is determined to get to the bottom of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I used the name Kieron for Kuron. I figured if his parents had one kid called Keith, then they might well have picked a name like Kieron for their other child. What I didn't actually realise until later is that the name derives from the Irish word for black!


	4. You're slowly disappearing from my view

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) No warnings for this chapter, except for Pidge cursing once.

Lance frowns deeply as he gazes up at the apartment building in front of him. He hates to stereotype, but the broken and boarded up windows don't exactly speak of luxury living. Once again he's glad not to be alone for this. Kieron is awake now and recovering well, and after meeting Hunk, Keith decided that he was happy for him to stay and watch over his brother while Keith went with Lance to check out the third name on the list. Shiro also called to say he'd be heading over to join them as soon as he'd got things organised at home.

It wasn't too long a drive this time either, just a couple of towns over. Keith's not much of a talker, so Lance had a chance to ponder some of the details that he'd dug up so far. The fact that all of the addresses are in the same county lends weight to the theory that the 'twins' were separated at birth and put up for adoption locally. But unlike Shiro and Kieron, Sven didn't grow up in the area; he'd only just moved back there, to take a job, when he and Lance met.

The main door for the building appears to need a key fob to access, but it swings open easily enough when Keith pushes on it. The elevator is boarded up so they take the stairs, the naked concrete hard and unyielding under Lance's feet as they make their way up to the fourth floor. When they reach the right apartment number and find the front door wide open, Keith reacts by pulling a knife out of his jacket. Better safe than sorry, Lance supposes. Cautiously, he peers around the doorframe.

The apartment seems to be comprised mostly of a single room, containing a small kitchenette, with a little table flanked by a couple of chairs, and a double bed. Against one wall stands a mostly empty bookcase, and a couple of empty picture hooks adorn another. The bed looks like it's been slept in recently, judging by the scrunched up bedding. There are a few lazily stacked takeout cartons sitting on the table in the kitchen area, along what looks like a cellphone. Other than that, there are few signs of life.

There's a scuffling sound coming from the far side of the bed and Keith looks like he's ready to use that knife, so Lance quickly clears his throat and calls, "Hello?"

A short white woman pops up beside the bed and adjusts her glasses. She squints at Lance and Keith for a brief moment, then, without further acknowledgement, turns her attention to the chest of drawers next to the bed, opening the top drawer and rifling through it.

"Uh, we're looking for a Ryou Kurogane," Lance tries, doing his best to pronounce the name correctly. "Do you know if this is his apartment?"

"It is, but he's not here. I checked," the woman answers without turning around.

"And who are you exactly?"

She turns then and looks back at him. "Who are _you_?" she asks in a tone that makes Lance feel vaguely offended.

"The name's Lance. This is Keith." He gestures to his knife-wielding companion. The woman appears unimpressed, so he adds, "Do you usually make a habit of breaking into people's apartments and going through their stuff?"

"Only when I think they might've kidnapped my brother."

The B word gets Keith's attention. "What makes you think he took your brother?"

The woman laughs. "If you knew Kuro at all, you wouldn't need to ask that." She eyes them both pointedly. "My brother said he was heading over here last night. This morning he wasn't answering his phone, so I came over to see if he was still here. Found them both gone and my brother's phone, with the SIM card removed. Which means wherever they went, Kuro didn't want me tracking them there."

"Kuro?" Lance asks uncertainly.

"It's what his 'friends' call him," the woman says, making air quotes. "What few he has."

Lance exchanges a look with Keith. So far this Kuro guy doesn't sound much like any of the other 'twins', but at this point they do only have one person's testimony regarding his character.

"Do you have any pictures of him?" Lance asks.

"Actually, you're in luck there." The woman pulls a cellphone out of the back pocket of her jeans and makes her way over to them, unlocking the phone with her thumb. "He absolutely _hates_ having his photo taken. Probably worried that the camera's gonna steal his soul or something. Buuut I did manage to take one picture without him noticing."

She holds up the phone and there on the screen is that same familiar face. His hair is short like Shiro's, but not so neat, with the skin nicked in several places, and it has the same white streak as Kieron's. But the biggest difference is the eyes. There's a lot of scarring around them and across the bridge of his nose, and the eyes themselves are glassy and blank, with a nasty yellow tint.

"Is he blind?" Keith asks. He looks really uncomfortable as he studies the photo.

"Yep." The woman looks between the two of them. "Why were you looking for him anyway?"

Lance takes out his own phone and, activating the screen, holds it up for her to see. She studies the picture and her eyes get real big.

"That's my boyfriend, Sven. And this-" He flicks through to another photo. "-is Keith's brother, Kieron."

The woman blinks a couple of times before declaring, "OK, what the fuck?!"

-

The woman - who eventually introduces herself as Pidge - has a hunch about where Kuro might be holed up. With no other obvious leads to follow, Lance and Keith agree to go with her to check it out. She explains on the way that the house they're going to is where Kuro grew up. There was a fire there back when he was just a teenager, and most of the house was burnt down. Kuro survived the fire; his adoptive parents didn't.

"Are you sure this is gonna be safe?" Lance asks as he gets out of the car.

"Nope," Pidge calls cheerfully over her shoulder, already heading toward the ruined structure.

"This house is all burnt down," Keith says, scowling at the house's remains like they've personally done him wrong. "There's nowhere to hide in it any more."

"Not above ground, no," Pidge responds, picking her way through the wreckage. "Look for a trapdoor or anything that might lead down to a basement."

Lance joins her, peering down at the ancient charred mess on the floor. To his surprise, he spots the trapdoor almost immediately. "There!"

Pidge and Keith make their way over to where Lance can now clearly see that the debris has been cleared away from around the door. But before any of them can reach for the handle, the door opens.

"Katie?"

"Matt!" Pidge rushes to help the guy, who Lance assumes must be her brother, climb out. As he straightens, Pidge wraps him up in a tight hug.

Behind them another figure slowly emerges from the basement and Lance feels his gut twist uncomfortably. Again, looking at a photo doesn't begin to compare to seeing the man in person. He seems taller somehow than Sven and Shiro, even though that seems really unlikely to Lance. The pink scar tissue stretches across his familiar face like gnarled candy floss.

"You!" Pidge yells, marching right up to him and jabbing a finger into his chest. "What the hell did you do to my brother?!"

"Nothing he didn't beg me to do again," Kuro answers, with a wicked grin that only seems to make Pidge angrier.

"Why did you take the SIM card out of his phone?" she demands.

"What can I say? I like my privacy. Not that that seems to have stopped you from hunting me down, Shortstack."

Lance takes a deep breath, then lets it out again. There's no point showing Kuro any pictures, but he should at least talk to him.

"Uh, hi? It's Kuro, right? I'm Lance-" He falls silent as Kuro's head turns in his direction; there's something unnerving about the way that he moves. "I um... I wanted to talk to you?"

"Oh?"

"It'd be easier if I could just show you, but since you-"

"You can show Matt," Kuro interrupts before Lance can finish. "He can describe it to me."

Lance hesitates a moment, then carefully hands his phone over to Matt. He reacts in much the same way as his sister did, with obvious shock.

"That's my boyfriend, Sven," Lance explains.

"Never seen him before," Kuro responds jokingly.

Matt punches him lightly in the arm. "This guy looks just like you. And I do mean _exactly like you_. Like, he could be your identical twin brother."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"And there's more..." Lance begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I used Ryou’s name for Kuro just because it was convenient, but the character is 100% Kuro. And since he only actually appears in the series for like a hot minute, that character is about 99% headcanon.  
> 2) Kurogane was Lance’s surname in the original Japanese Voltron. I used it to explain where the nickname 'Kuro' came from. It also makes for a really nice parallel between Shiro/Shirogane and Kuro/Kurogane.


	5. I'm floating in a beam of light with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) And now the warnings - referenced/implied sex, nudity, cursing, off-screen murder, brief gore, referenced past domestic abuse, mentions of/references to more gore, threats of gun violence, and one very insensitive use of a pun.

**Yesterday**

Matt gives an appreciative groan as he drops back against the mattress. He never used to like morning sex (or morning _anything_ , really) but now he can't think of a better way to start the day. He bathes in the afterglow, enjoying comfortable silence save for the sound of his own breathing, and that of the man lying next to him, gradually slowing down.

Slowly he turns his head to look over at his partner. Kuro's eyes are open, staring sightlessly, the smile curling his lips the only sign of what he's feeling. Back when he first met him, Matt found the sickly yellow tint of Kuro's eyes somewhat off-putting. Now he barely notices it. He can't help but wonder if this is what love is supposed to feel like; gradually losing sight of the other person's imperfections, or maybe just becoming so used to them that they scarcely register any more.

"Breakfast in or out?" Kuro asks, interrupting the quiet.

"Out," Matt responds easily. "I feel like something big and messy."

That makes Kuro grin. "Again?"

Matt responds with a snort of amusement as he reluctantly forces himself to sit up. "I think I'm gonna take a shower first though."

"No, you're not."

Matt's shoulders slump in defeat. "Don't tell me it's still broken?"

"Yup," Kuro answers, still not moving from where he's lying on the bed.

"Guess it'll have to be a bath, then."

"No can do. Water's out."

"Again?!"

Kuro shrugs vaguely. "My landlord's a lazy asshole."

With a heavy sigh, Matt hauls himself up and off of the bed.

"Where're you going?" Kuro calls after him. "I told you, the water's out."

"Yeah, but I still need to pee," Matt calls over his shoulder as he plods over to the bathroom. He steps inside and closes the door behind him.

As he stands over the toilet, his gaze wanders to the reflection in the mirrored door of the bathroom cabinet, of the drawn shower curtain hanging inside the bathtub behind him. He sighs. He wouldn't have to put up with any of this if they stayed at his place. But his sister, who he shares the apartment with, hates Kuro. And Kuro just loves to antagonise her, which only makes it worse. It's just not worth the headache.

On autopilot, he moves to the sink and turns the tap. He's halfway through washing his hands before it dawns on him that there's water where there shouldn't be any. He blinks dumbly, slowly turning off the tap. Something feels... off. He looks up at the shower curtain in the mirror again, a nagging feeling eating at the back of his mind.

He turns and steps over to the bath, hesitating just a moment before he slowly draws back the curtain.

"Oh f-" He claps a hand over his mouth, cutting off his curse.

There's a body in the tub, a _dead_ body.

_Dead for several hours probably_ , the medical part of his brain helpfully informs him. Dead before he came over here late last night. The man's throat has been cut and the blood staining his shirt is long dried.

Matt turns, stumbling towards the door and fumbling with the handle in his rush to get it open. Kuro is sitting up now on the bed, back braced against the wall.

"There's a dead body in your bathtub-" Matt blurts, starting toward him. But as he takes in the expression on Kuro's face, his steps begin to slow, until finally he comes to a complete stop. "But you already knew that."

"I told you not to go in there," Kuro admits, swinging his long legs over the side of the bed and getting up. He makes his way over.

Matt can't move. For an instant he does think about running, but he's sure that if he did, Kuro would beat him to the door. His body feels cold, numb, disconnected from his mind.

"Now what am I gonna do with you?" Kuro asks, stepping up to him, his head tilted down to where Matt is avoiding meeting his eyes.

"I-" Matt chokes out. "I need to go home."

Kuro scoffs, shaking his head. "No. We both know you'll run and tell someone as soon as you get out of here."

"Did you kill him?" Matt whispers, his voice hoarse.

"What do you think?" Kuro answers and a quiet sob escapes Matt's throat. "Get dressed. We're gonna go for a walk."

Shakily, Matt walks around to the other side of the bed, where he left his clothes. His eyes light on his cellphone, peeking out from the pocket of his jacket. He picks it up gingerly and gently presses the button to activate the screen.

"That your phone?" Kuro asks and Matt freezes. How could he have heard that one little click?

"I'll switch it off," Matt says quickly.

"No. Take the SIM out and give it to me." He crosses the floor to where Matt is and holds out his hand.

"But-" Matt casts about desperately for any argument he can use.

"It's the only way I can be sure," Kuro says. "I know what your sister's capable of."

-

The walk over to the house helps clear some of the fog of disbelief from Matt's head. He can imagine how it must've looked to the people they passed on the street; Kuro holding onto his shoulder like he needed to be shown the way, when in reality he was the one directing Matt.

_This is probably your last chance to run_ , he thinks as Kuro yanks open the trapdoor. Inside there's nothing but blackness.

"Watch your step," Kuro says. When Matt doesn't move, he inclines his head towards the basement. "Go on."

Matt holds his breath as he carefully descends the wooden steps. The darkness quickly swallows him up but he keeps going until he feels a dirt floor beneath his feet. Cautiously, he inches forward, then jumps in fright as the door slams shut above him, cutting off the light.

"It's dark!" he protests.

"Sorry. Hold on."

He hears Kuro shuffling around for a moment, then the tinkling of a chain before a light bulb snaps alight. Matt blinks painfully at the sudden brightness. The basement is bigger than he expected, significantly longer than it is wide. The walls on either side are lined with a mixture of cardboard and plastic storage boxes, all buried under a thick layer of dust. Indeed, he can see the history of Kuro's movements down here mapped out where the dust has been cleared.

Matt knows about the house, and the fire. Katie flagged it when she did a 'background check' on Kuro, after Matt started seeing him more regularly. Unsurprisingly, when he asked, Kuro didn't want to talk about it, so Matt did a little research of his own. He wonders now if Kuro has been coming here ever since the house burned down or if he's only recently returned to use the basement as a hiding spot.

"Where did I put it?" he mutters to himself softly as he disappears into the gloom on the right side of the room.

Matt can just make out his hand patting lightly over the tops of the boxes as he moves amongst them. It's his left hand, Matt notes, which probably means he's trying to identify the boxes by touch. Kuro's right hand and the lower half of his right arm are covered in scar tissue, from an injury that left him with limited feeling in that hand. He's never told Matt how it happened.

He opens one of the boxes and starts rooting through the contents, but quickly seems to decide that it's not what he's looking for. He moves on to another.

"Are you a serial killer?" Matt asks. There's no point in sugarcoating it; he needs to know what he's dealing with here.

He sees Kuro's back stiffen. He gives a derisive snort. "No. Pretty sure you need to drop at least three bodies for that."

Matt feels sick. That still leaves the possibility of two. Has Kuro killed someone else besides the man he found in the bath?

"Did you kill your parents?" he asks.

That makes Kuro stop. The way he turns and marches back to Matt tells him that he's hit a nerve.

"No! But I sure as hell didn't make any effort to save the fuckers after what they did to me."

His nostrils are flared, jaw tensed. But somehow, in the face of his anger, Matt doesn't feel quite so scared any more. He reaches out, slowly so as not to startle Kuro, and takes hold of his scarred right hand. He did his research; from the look of the burns on Kuro's face and arm, they're chemical, not thermal.

"Are you going to kill _me_?"

"Don't be stupid. It may have escaped your notice, but I... I quite like you."

"Prove it," Matt says suddenly, letting go of his hand. He's surprised at how calm his voice sounds.

Kuro tilts his head, blinking his sightless eyes, curious. "How?"

Matt licks his lips. He doesn't really have a plan. All he knows is that he needs to feel in control again. His whole world is shaking right now and he just wants it to stop.

Steeling himself, he reaches out, snaking both hands around Kuro's waist and pulling him flush against him. He tilts his head up, aligning his face with Kuro's so that they're practically nose to nose. He can feel Kuro's breath against his face.

"If you're trying to distract me," Kuro whispers huskily, "it's working." He reaches around to return Matt's hold.

"No touching," Matt says quickly. "Not... not until I say so."

Kuro raises his eyebrows at that, but obediently drops his arms to his sides. "Yessir."

Matt shivers. _What the hell am I doing?_ But he can't stop now, can't hesitate. He casts about, searching the basement floor for something that-

"What d'you need?" Kuro asks, having read his movements.

"Something to uh..." Matt wavers, uncertain. He's not usually shy about stuff like this, but nevertheless 'Something to fuck on' remains stubbornly unsaid. 

"Over to your right," Kuro responds anyway. "Under the stairs."

Hesitantly, Matt pulls back, hooking his fingers in the waistband of Kuro's jeans to lead him over to the stairs. Sure enough, there's something wrapped in plastic lying on the floor behind them. He's not sure if it's what he thinks, if Kuro has somehow intuited what he means, but...

"Go on," he says, releasing Kuro so that he can follow the order. Kuro quickly pulls the plastic tarp off of the mattress, tossing it aside. Then he turns around and sits down on the mattress. Lifting his face toward Matt, he grins and spreads his legs invitingly.

-

**Now**

Matt rests his forearms against the table and leans forward to study the papers spread across it, each one topped by the distinctive logo of The Quintes Group. It's an interesting puzzle that Lance has uncovered, interesting enough that Matt has agreed with Kuro to shelve whatever it was that happened yesterday until the mystery is solved. Four men with the same face, physically nearly identical, but otherwise living entirely separate lives. Or maybe not?

All four were adopted as babies, so they don't have any memories of what was involved there, and none of them has a living parent who might be able to shed some light on the situation. That in itself strikes Matt as a weird coincidence.

Sven's father died when he was just a kid, from pancreatic cancer, while his mother passed away just a few years ago, in her sleep (something to do with heart failure, they thought). Shiro's parents both died while he was in his twenties, his mom from breast cancer and his dad in an accident caused by an earthquake. Kieron's parents both died as a result of a car accident a few years back. His mother was apparently killed instantly and his father died later from his injuries while in hospital. And of course Kuro's parents both died in the house fire when he was in his teens.

There's nothing to link any of the parents' deaths, but there are a couple of other things Matt's noticed too. Like an issue with right arms: Kuro's is heavily scarred, Shiro was born missing his below the elbow, and following his recent accident Kieron's had to be amputated. He now sports a metal prosthetic, courtesy of The Quintes Group.

Also there's the facial scars. Kieron has a gash stretching across his nose that's still healing, while Shiro has a much older scar in the same place, which he told Matt was courtesy of one of the kids he teaches getting overly boisterous. The scar tissue surrounding Kuro's eyes extends over the same area of his face.

The only one Matt doesn't know about is Sven. He needs to ask Lance if there was anything unusual about the guy's right arm or if he happened to have a scar across his nose. Because alone, none of this is all that weird, but on three or four guys with the same face, it looks strangely like a pattern.

Matt glances around the table at the assembled group. To his left is Kuro, and on his right Katie and Hunk. Opposite them sit Kieron, Keith, Lance and Shiro.

"So, all of you have a connection to Quintes," Lance says, bringing to an end the pondering they've all been doing over the remains of their breakfast. "They made donations to Shiro's school, covered Kieron's medical bills, employed Kuro and maybe Sven as a consultant too..."

When Lance mentioned the name of the organisation and the town where the facility where Kieron was being treated was located, Kuro said that he'd recently been offered a job working night shifts there. Matt remembers him getting a new job a little while back, but Kuro hadn't offered many details about it and Matt hadn't pursued it.

"But here's the thing," Katie continues. "Quintes have virtually no online presence. No email, no servers, nothing even vaguely digital showing up in their financials. Their website - which is all you get when you search for information on them - is hosted by an agency and paid for by another corporation, Galra Pharmaceuticals." She lets out a sigh, straightening in her seat. "They've got the money to purchase high-tech medical equipment, but they can't afford an email server."

"You think they're hiding something?" Shiro asks from across the table.

"I think we need to find out. We need to check out the clinic here in town, see if there's anything there. It's the only physical evidence we have currently that The Quintes Group even exists."

"Nothing like a bit of breaking and entering, eh Shortstack?" Kuro says, leaning around Matt to grin at his sister.

"Talk to me again and I will staple your tongue to this table," Katie responds without so much as glancing in Kuro's direction. Matt sighs.

"Thanks to Kuro, and Kieron's stay there, we know a bit about the place," Lance continues. "So we just need to come up with a plan by tonight for how we're gonna get in."

Not everyone looks comfortable with the idea, but no-one argues against it. Breaking and entering it is, then.

-

Breaking into the facility turns out to be the easy part. Kuro already has access - the security guards outside barely even acknowledge him as he enters - and once inside, he's able to let the rest of them in via windows around the back of the building. They quickly manage to locate the monitoring room that all the security cameras link to and Katie takes great pleasure in trashing the analog network, making short work of destroying all the evidence of their presence.

The building isn't actually all that big, so between the eight of them it doesn't take them long to check out all the rooms. It's exactly as Kuro described: Aside from the medical ward where Kieron was staying, located near the front of the building, the rest of the rooms look like they've never been used. Kuro thinks Quintes were assuming he wouldn't notice, but said that the 'new' smell on all the furniture was a dead giveaway.

They do another sweep of the building, just make sure they haven't missed anything, and it's then that Keith spots the elevator doors at the far end of the main corridor.

"Um, did anyone else see an elevator near the entrance when we came in?" Hunk asks pointedly.

"Nope. According the plans, it's a single-storey building," Katie responds.

Turning to Kuro, Matt asks, "Is there a basement level?"

He shakes his head. "Not that I know of."

"Down we go, then," Katie says briskly, stabbing the elevator button with her finger. The doors open and she hops inside. "Hey, Hunk, come give me a hand with this?"

Hunk hurries over and the two of them get to work on the control panel inside the elevator.

"Strange that the secret elevator isn't more well hidden," Shiro muses.

"I guess they weren't expecting anyone to come looking," Kieron responds.

There's a _ding_ sound as the elevator surrenders control of all its functions to its attackers and Hunk sticks his arm out to hold the doors so everyone can get inside.

When the doors open again on the basement level, Matt sees a long corridor extending in front of them. There's a set of double doors on either side. Katie goes left and Keith goes right. Amazingly, neither set of doors is locked.

"Split up?" Lance suggests.

The others nod in agreement. Kieron and Shiro go after Keith with Lance, while Matt guides Kuro to follow Katie and Hunk through the left-hand doors.

The room they walk into is vast, apparently running parallel to the corridor all along the left half of the basement. There are a number of large metal structures spread out around the room, with thick black power cables attached. But no recognisable computers in sight, Matt notes. There are, however, some desks and chairs, along with several metal filing cabinets.

Katie and Hunk head straight over, and start opening and rifling through some of the cabinets, while Kuro hangs back. Matt approaches one of the metal structures. It forms a chunky circle, held upright by four massive wedge-shaped feet, with arrow-shaped pieces positioned at regular intervals around the circumference and pointing inwards. Aside from the huge power cables, which disappear into the ground where the floor tiles have been removed, there's also a bundle of smaller cables leading to what looks like it might be some sort of control panel, with a lever attached to one side. 

_Looks kind of like a Stargate_ , Matt muses. He's about to say as much to Katie when he sees her waving him over to one of the desks.

She lays out some of the papers she's found on the table. "What does this look like to you?"

Matt studies the notes, all written in the same neat handwriting. There's a name - Slav - but it's not clear whether it's a first name or a last name, or maybe some kind of codename? The notes are kind of dense and engineering is not Matt's speciality, but he recognises some of the terms. Looking up, he sees Katie eyeing him expectantly, obviously anticipating some sort of response.

"I um... What do you think it's referring to?"

Katie frowns at him, like he's just missed a really obvious reference.

"I know exactly what it looks like," Hunk says, crossing the room back towards them. "But it shouldn't be possible. I mean, the theory is fine, but no-one's ever actually, y'know, built this stuff."

"What did they build?" Matt asks.

"Portals," Katie says bluntly. "They built portals."

"What, like for teleportation?"

"Like between realities."

Matt blinks. _What?!_

Hunk is nodding. "It sounds crazy but it's all documented like it's real. So either these guys are _really_ serious about their sci-fi RP or they actually opened up travel between realities."

"You wanna translate that from nerd-speak, Matty," Kuro says, coming over to stand beside them.

"So, the theory goes that there could be infinite alternate realities, each one slightly different from the next," Matt explains. "So, like, in one you miss the bus but in the next one you get there just in time to catch it."

Kuro shrugs. "So?"

"So, we think... we think The Quintes Group built gateways between these realities."

"Or at least they wrote in their notes that they did," Katie adds.

"What does that have to do with my doppelgängers?" Kuro asks.

"Well, it looks like you're not quadruplets and you're not clones either," Katie says, turning to face Kuro. "You're all the same person, just from different realities."

Kuro blinks slowly, sighs, seems to mull that over.

Now that Matt thinks about it, it makes too much sense. All the similarities between the four, always with slight variations. The white hair could've been explained away by genetics, but the arm, the scar across the nose, maybe even the parents' deaths...

Is this proof of the existence of destiny, as a tangible force, a law of the universe?

"But... how come they all have memories?" Hunk asks. "Shiro has memories of _this_ reality, stretching back to when he was a little kid."

"They could've been taken at any point in their lives," Matt responds. "If all four of them were taken when they were babies, they would all have grown up in this reality."

"That's... I mean, that's..." Hunk looks a little overwhelmed.

It would've been one hell of an experiment: place the same person in four different situations and watch what happens. Nature versus nurture versus the universe.

"Plus," Matt adds, as it occurs to him, "we have no way of knowing which one - if _any_ \- of them is actually from _this_ reality."

The others all fall silent as that statement sinks in. What if none of the four men they've found are native to this reality? They've only opened two of the cabinets, only looked at a handful of notes; they really have no idea what the purpose of The Quintes Group's experiments actually was.

Suddenly the double doors burst open. Shiro enters first, striding straight across the room to his husband. Keith and Lance follow, Kieron holding the door open for them to pass through before following close behind. Lance looks like he's been crying, rubbing at his reddened eyes with the back of his hand. Keith hovers near him, looking like he wants to offer comfort but is unsure how.

"What- What happened?" Hunk asks nervously.

"We found..." Shiro trails off, visibly distressed.

"We found Sven," Kieron finishes for him. "His- We found his body. It looked like, like they were harvesting parts from it..."

All eyes fall on Lance, who has started quietly weeping again. Matt feels his chest tighten. Unbidden, his mind throws up images of specimen jars, sawn off body parts, Kuro's chest sliced open and his insides exposed to the air...

Shakily, he turns to look at his friend, and watches uneasily as the blind man closes the distance between himself and Lance. 

"Easy, Lark. It's over now," he says in a tone that Matt's not sure he's ever heard Kuro use before. He gently places an arm around Lance's shoulders, drawing the younger man to him.

"I should've made sure..." Lance sobs, breaking down, leaning weakly against Kuro's chest. "I saw them take the body away, for cremation, but I couldn't- I didn't stay to make sure they actually did it."

"He was already dead," Kuro assures him. "He didn't feel anything. Must've been hard for you though, seeing him like that, with his eyes cut out and-"

Lance tears away from him like he's been stung, his eyes impossibly wide with horror.

His voice is a hoarse whisper: "I never said that they took his eyes."

Kuro's lip curls around a rueful grin and Matt feels the temperature in the room drop. Numbness spreads through his limbs. 

"You killed him," he says simply, quietly.

Kuro turns toward him, his grin growing wider. But Matt is focused on Lance, who is wearing an expression caught somewhere between white hot rage and ice cold despair.

"Oh, c'mon," Kuro grouses. "I had good reason. Once I figured out what Quintes had done, what I was, it was the next logical step."

"What's he talking about?" Shiro asks, looking to his husband.

"We-we found notes from the Group's experiments," Hunk answers. "It-it looks like they created portals between realities." He takes hold of Shiro's hand. "You... The four of you, we think... we think they took you from four different realities."

"What are you saying? That Shiro is another version of me? And Kuro?" Kieron demands.

"You're all the same person," Katie confirms, "just each from a different reality."

Kieron looks to his brother. It must all be making sense now, why Quintes were so keen to look after him. Was everything else just a front, just for show in case anyone asked any questions?

"How did you know about all this?" Shiro asks, addressing Kuro and drawing Matt's gaze back across the room.

"Heh." Kuro seems amused by the question. "They wanted to keep us close, keep tabs on us, but in my case it ended up being a little too close. It was a mistake to have me work here, but I guess they figured a blind guy wouldn't stumble onto anything he wasn't supposed to see. I'm not deaf, though. And if you're looking for a donor, what's even better than a clone? _Yourself_."

"What about the man back at your apartment?" Matt asks. "Why did you kill him?"

"Wait, what?!" Katie cuts in. "Matt-"

"The doctor?" Kuro interrupts. "At first he wanted to help me. Said if I could get the parts, he could do the surgery. But we had a disagreement." He laughs bitterly. "Guess we just didn't see _eye to eye_."

"You sunnuvabitch!" Katie yells, advancing, but both Shiro and Hunk reach out to hold her back.

Matt can picture it. The guy he found in the bathtub, alive and as yet unbloodied, arguing loudly with Kuro. Maybe he figured out that Sven's death wasn't an accident and got cold feet. Maybe he just demanded money, more than Kuro could afford. No doubt it never crossed his mind that a blind man might kill him.

Then, before Matt realises what's happening, Keith has pulled a knife and rushed at Kuro. But he stops short as he finds himself staring down the barrel of a handgun.

"Oh, Little Brother," Kuro tuts, "didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring a knife to a gun fight?"

"Heh." Keith tries to feign casualness. "Am I supposed to be scared? You can't even see me."

"I _can_ hear you though, just like I heard you pull that knife," Kuro counters. "But you raise a good point. I used to be a pretty good shot before my old man fucked up my eyes. So if you keep real still, there's still a good chance I'll hit what I'm aiming for. But I can't make any promises. There's a lot of people in this room. You rush me, I shoot, what're the chances, do you think, that I hit at least one of you?"

"You-" Keith clearly wants to argue, but a quick glance back at his brother, shaking his head, and he closes his mouth.

"Here's what's gonna happen," Kuro says coolly. "I'm gonna take what I want, you're gonna let me leave, and no one else is gonna get hurt. I've got no particular desire to kill any of you, but if you push me, I won't hesitate." He pauses, head tilting slightly first this way and then that, signalling to Matt that he's 'surveying' the room.

"What _do_ you want?"

It's Lance who asks the question. He seems somewhat calmed now, though his eyes still look hollow with grief.

"The eyes, Lark. I'll pass on the lungs for your sake, so we don't have to open up your boyfriend again." He grins, rueful. "I also could've used a new hand. But unfortunately, between the three of you idiots, you couldn't manage one decent right arm. However, thanks to Little Brother's inability to choose between animal welfare and his own family, I've now got the perfect solution."

He cocks his head, with eerie accuracy, in Kieron's direction.

"Don't you dare talk about my brother like that!" Kieron snaps, grabbing Keith's shoulder and pushing him behind him protectively.

"Or what?" Kuro sneers. "You'll get closer so that I can more easily blow your head off? I only need your arm, Doomer, and I'm willing to risk a bullet hole or too. After all, it can easily be repaired."

"Wait-" Hunk pipes up, then goes quiet momentarily as Kuro turns in his direction. "What uh, what's wrong with Sven's right arm?"

It's Lance who answers, without emotion, "When he was younger, he broke his wrist. He had to have a couple of metal pins inserted into his arm."

"Imagine my disappointment," Kuro says dryly.

Matt's mind is racing. There has to be something he can-

_Wait._

Careful to keep his movements as quiet as possible, he tries to catch his sister's eye. It takes a moment before Katie registers that he's trying to communicate. He mouths the words slowly, gently tilting his head in the direction he wants her to look. Recognition flashes in her eyes and she gives the slightest of nods.

"OK, fine. We'll do what you want," Matt says loudly and starts walking towards Kuro. Katie moves too, hiding the sound of her footsteps within his.

"Don't think you can speak for the group, Matty," Kuro responds.

"Yeah, but I'm fairly sure no-one here wants to die. I know you better than anyone and I know you're serious about that threat."

"Fair enough." Matt is close now, close enough to reach out and touch him. Kuro switches the gun to his other hand, unhurried. "Don't try anything stupid now."

"Kind of depends on your definition of 'stupid'," Matt says. "I'm going with you." Kuro raises his eyebrows sharply. Apparently he wasn't expecting that. "You're going to need help and I have more medical knowledge than anyone else here. It makes sense."

Kuro shakes his head. "That's not gonna work. I know you're not happy about the murders already. You really think it's gonna get any better from here on out?"

He's right and Matt knows it too. If he did go with Kuro, he'd only be delaying the inevitable. Realistically, there's only one way this can end.

Maybe this is _his_ destiny, in this reality at least.

"So... So that's it? This is goodbye?"

"Yeah."

Matt reaches for him, sliding his hands over Kuro's belly to rest on his waist, guiding him to turn around slightly. Kuro reaches out then with his left hand and Matt closes his eyes as the fingers brush down his face, mapping out his features. Eventually Kuro's hand settles, cradling his face, thumb hooked over his cheekbone.

"I- I love you," Matt says. The words sound sterile to his ears, but he's not bluffing. He means it. Even after everything that's happened, he still means it.

"Feeling's mutual," Kuro says quietly, the pad of his thumb gently tracing Matt's eye socket.

Matt swallows thickly. Back when he was younger, he'd believed that relationships were an all-in-one sort of thing. Friendship and love and sex were all packaged together; if you wanted one with someone then a desire for the others would naturally follow. He'd tried so hard to do everything right, but somehow it always seemed like he was missing something.

It wasn't until Katie was in her late teens that he finally figured it out. Their parents had been concerned about her lack of interest in romance and relationships. They thought she might be suffering from stress, that she was too focused on school. It was Katie who had 'diagnosed' herself as an aromantic asexual. Matt had been barely aware of those terms before, but once he started unpicking his own attractions, it had quickly become clear which element was missing.

But finding someone else who was comfortable with that, someone who didn't need something he couldn't give them... By the time he'd met Kuro, he'd pretty much given up on relationships altogether. When they'd first added sex into their friendship, Matt had spent the next few months waiting anxiously for the other shoe to drop. But it never did. Kuro seemed perfectly contented with what they had.

Matt had grown so comfortable, so happy, being with someone who felt just right for him.

Now he casts his gaze sideways and locks eyes with his sister, and she yanks down the lever in front of her. The gateway at Kuro's back thrums to life, the metal circle filling with undulating blue-grey light.

"I'm sorry," Matt says, as he places his palms against Kuro's chest and shoves as hard as he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I headcanon Matt as an aromantic pansexual (to contrast with Shiro being a panromantic asexual). Season 4 may ruin that for me, but I can always play the AU card.


	6. I never thought I'd meet a guy like you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) And we're back to no warnings again.

Lance feels the blankets covering him begin to move, but he's not quite awake yet. Hovering somewhere between sleep and consciousness, he gradually recognises the sensation of another's warm body moving against his.

"Mm, I missed you," he murmurs. "I dreamt that you were gone and..."

He doesn't finish; he doesn't even want to think about it. The mattress shifts underneath him as his boyfriend manoeuvres to crouch over him. A hand gently pushes up his shirt. He smiles at the sensation of lips pressed against the sensitive skin of his belly, kissing tenderly. He arches slightly into the ministrations and strong hands slip underneath his back, supporting him. As the kisses trail lower, the hands follow, sliding from Lance's waist down to his hips, slowly drawing down his shorts.

He knots his fingers in his lover's hair, tugging gently, warningly, trying to draw him back up to where he can see him. He opens his eyes-

-and meets with yellow-tinted, sightless ones. Pearly pink scar tissue stretches across that familiar handsome face.

"C'mon now, Lark. We were just getting to the good part," Kuro says, teeth bared in a feral grin.

Lance wakes with a gasp, pushing up his sleep mask and scrambling to sit up. A quiet sound of dismay comes from beside him, as Keith wrestles himself awake and props himself up on one arm.

"You OK?" he asks, voice thick with sleep.

"Yeah." Lance smiles reassuringly. "I just had a nightmare, that's all."

Keith nods, though he continues to watch Lance's face intently as he gradually wakes up, like he's expecting something more to follow.

"Really, Keith, I'm OK."

That seems to break the spell and Keith looks down at himself instead.

"I fell asleep," he says, like it's a new concept he's trying out. "Sorry."

Lance smiles easily. "It's not a problem."

He hadn't had the heart to move Keith last night after he drifted off lying on top of the covers. They must've been talking for hours. Lance had been telling him about his family, which always ended up being a long conversation the first time he had it with someone.

He's been glad of the company that Keith and Kieron have provided these past few days. He sort of regrets now letting his family leave so soon after Sven's funeral, but there's no way he's ready to explain everything that's happened to them yet. Especially when he's still processing it himself.

Yawning, he checks the bedside clock.

"C'mon. We might as well start getting ready."

Keith follows him through to the kitchen, where they find Kieron conversing with Blue in an exchange of meows. Lance spots a half-eaten bowl of cat kibble along the counter from where Blue is standing.

"Please tell me you didn't feed her," he says, frowning at the cat.

"I... may have fed her a little bit," Kieron admits, looking sheepish.

"And now you're gonna be her slave for life," Lance informs him brightly.

If Blue is at all bothered by the stranger who looks just like Sven, she certainly hasn't shown it. It's still a little weird for Lance walking into a room and seeing him there, his face at once familiar and new, but it's also comforting. Lance is very grateful that he won't be alone for what he has to do today. 

-

As he walks along the beach, Lance tunes out the conversation for a moment, just listening to the sea. On his right the waves lap lazily at the sand, and to his left Keith is hovering just within arm's reach. Ahead of them Hunk is almost being dragged along by an enthusiastic Bumblebee, anxious to investigate every little patch of sand that she comes across, while Shiro keeps pace next to them. Behind him, Lance can hear Kieron sounding a little lost in Pidge's extensive theorising about alternate universes.

He hears the sand shift as someone jogs to catch up with him.

"Hey," Matt says, appearing alongside him, between Lance and the ocean.

"Hey."

"How're you holding up?"

Lance shrugs and shifts his grip on the urn in his hands. "It's kind of strange to be doing this again."

"Yeah. I guess it must be."

"How about you?" Lance is keenly aware of Matt's loss and how it's irrevocably intertwined with his own. Despite his mixed feelings about Kuro, he's freshly familiar with what it feels like to lose the one you love.

"Still... dealing," Matt says, copying his shrug. "But I'm OK."

"Do you miss him?" Lance asks.

"Yeah," Matt admits. "Sometimes."

The way he says it, it sounds rather like the kind of 'sometimes' that's actually 'constantly', but Lance doesn't press it.

"You ever think he might come back?" he asks quietly.

Matt shakes his head. "I doubt it. I mean, we don't even know which reality he ended up in. Even if the technology does exist there and he can get it to work, he'd have no way of finding out the 'number' to dial home." He grins suddenly, shaking his head. "We're gonna spend the rest of our lives having conversations like this, aren't we?"

"Yep," Lance responds, managing a small smile. He looks out past Matt, at the ocean. "Hey guys," he calls as he comes to a stop. "I think here is good."

"C'mon, Bee," Shiro says, taking the dog's leash from Hunk and steering her back towards the others. "You can get it next time."

Lance kicks off his sandals and sets the urn down in the sand next to him so that he can roll up his pants legs. Collecting the urn, he wades out a little way into the water. Keith, Kieron and Hunk follow, while Pidge, Matt and Shiro remain on the beach with the dog.

Lance stares down into the water for a while. He's been thinking a lot over the past few days about various things he could say at this point. He takes a long, deep breath.

"I never thought I'd meet a guy like you," he says, "let alone four times over."

The assembled crowd chuckle politely.

"I'm glad-" His voice hitches and he swallows quickly. "I'm glad that I did, and that I got as much time with you as I did. You made me feel like I was the best possible version of myself every single day that I was with you. I love you and I miss you-" He catches himself as the tears start to fall. "I miss you so much."

Hunk steps forward, rubbing a soothing hand over his back. Lance drags his fingers through his hair as the tears begin to fall in earnest. He takes a moment to accept Hunk's comforting before gathering himself. Carefully he unscrews the top of the urn, takes a quick breath, then tilts it to tip the ashes into the water.

As the urn slowly empties, he whispers his final goodbyes.


End file.
